What Jonathan Schoop Can Offer
With the MLB trade deadline quickly approaching (seven days to be exact), Tigers fans are pondering what moves Detroit will make.
After their 47-114 record in 2019, the list seems endless for what the Tigers need to improve on. What’s important to remember is that the Tigers are going through the rebuilding process. It’s doubtful they’ll be buyers.
A possible trade option for the Detroit Tigers, and most logical, would be to trade veteran second baseman, Jonathan Schoop, to add depth to their farm system.
The former Twins’ 2B signed a one year contract this season for around $6.1 million.
Schoop hits in the cleanup spot for the Tigers and parades a .278 BA, along with a solid .803 OPS. The Tigers are not likely to become playoff contenders; they’re currently six and a half games behind the Twins and five away from the wild card spot.
Schoop is on a one year contract with the Tigers. If the next few games don’t go well and the Tigers look to sell, it’s best to trade a valuable player whose contract is about to time out. The trade deadline is a chance to get a player for the future instead of letting Schoop play in meaningless games for Detroit.
A trade that could benefit both parties would be the Tigers shipping Jonathan Schoop to contending teams like the St. Louis Cardinals or the Braves, who are most likely to give prospects in return for a better shot at postseason success.
Cardinal’s second baseman Kolten Wong has a below-average OPS of .658, to go along with a .206 batting average in the 2019 postseason. They could platoon Wong since Schoop, whose a right-handed batter, actually hits better against lefties. Schoop has a .368 batting average against left-handed pitchers this season.
The Tigers pitching staff has a collective ERA of 5.93. We’ve seen small bright spots in the starting rotation with Boyd’s steady return to early 2019 numbers, Turnbull making it to 7 innings, and new highly anticipated additions Casey Mize and Tarik Skubal.
The Cardinal’s could help sharpen the Tigers’ future bullpen; they have plenty of promising arms in their farm system. A good fit could potentially be RHP Angel Rondon. Adding someone to the farm system like Rondon, with a minor league career ERA 0f 3.01, would allow the 22-year-old time to develop and, hopefully, join the Tigers’ bullpen.
I’m not necessarily saying the Tigers need to look at only the Cardinals and Braves; however, if they were to trade a veteran like Schoop, they would most likely consider a team’s needs at second base.
Buck Farmer is also a name that’s been thrown around before the 2020 trade deadline.
Farmer’s played for Detroit since 2014 and is now arguably coasting at the peak of his career.
Despite the Tigers tanking to one of their worst records in franchise history last season, Farmer held his own. The setup man paraded a 3.72 ERA, 73 K’s, and 24 walks in 67⅔ innings pitched.
Staying on that high in 2020, Farmer coasted through a 1-2-3 eighth inning on only 12 pitches against the Indians in his latest appearance. Farmer made coming into the setup role in the eighth inning look relatively easy, exemplified by Joe Jiminez having trouble in the ninth and giving up a three-run homer.
The Tigers wouldn’t reel in a prominent catch trading Farmer; however, it could result in more depth to their farm system aiding their rebuild.
